WELL, in recent times there has been a massive uproars about black hair and the treatment of schoolgirls in schools due to their hair, and considering I am a young black woman, who does go to a model-C school I thought it only appropriate that I too, join the conversation, and throw my 2c worth into the collection box. Prior to dissecting the issue itself one must be cognisant of the emotions, and history surrounding black hair in order to truly understand the reasons for this uproar. We are all aware of the turbulent history of our country with race.
Arguably the most distinctly ‘black’ feature someone may sport is their hair, yes, our dark skin is an obvious marker of being of African descent but, those of Indian descent also very often sport dark skin, thus really the one distinctly unique feature that black people have is their extremely curly, delicate hair.
Thus for many decades black women and girls chemically straightened their hair, or hid it under wigs and, in more recent history, weaves, as a means of trying to disassociate themselves, consciously or otherwise, with the blackness that resulted in ill treatment.
Worse still, in part due to this as well as media that promotes European features as beautiful, black women felt that they could not be beautiful with their natural hair. So, for a very long time, the topic of their natural hair has been a sore spot for many women of my race, myself included, having started having my hair chemically straightened since I was a toddler, because that was the right thing to do in order to be beautiful and have manageable hair. However, something revolutionary has been happening over the past few years. The natural hair ‘movement’ has been growing. Black girls and women have begun to embrace their kinky, nappy natural hair, in part because the societal standards beauty have expanded, and also because they have started seeing the very real dangers of putting their scalps and hair through the abuse of relaxing hair.
Thus today you see more women with afros, dreadlocks, and other natural hairstyles than before, and because of this growing mentality of natural hair love the idea of teachers saying that there is something wrong with a girl’s hair, the way it grows out of their scalp is both appalling and saddening. In LO (life orientation) we learn to love ourselves, yet a young girl can still be told that their hair is not acceptable in a place of education in its natural state. The truth is that statements like these are widespread. I’ve had many a venting sessions with friends from different schools about this very thing, and what is needed is a paradigm shift at schools.
I read a Facebook post saying that if the roles were reversed, white girls would have to tease their hair every day before school. The ridiculousness of that idea emphasises the ridiculousness of not allowing black girls to sport their natural hair. However, hands-down my favourite thing about these girls standing up for their ‘fros is that never before have black girls been more unified in regards to hair. We are an angry sea of natural hair love, and there is very little that can stand when that tsunami hits.
I truly hope that more girls hop on the natural hair bandwagon, because beauty is not streamlined, it is not restricted to only one type of hair texture, style, or length.
Most of all, I’d like to believe that derogatory statements about black hair are a result of ignorance, and inbred societal conventions that these educators have been restricted to for most of their lives. That these teachers do not understand black hair, nor the dangers of chemically treating black hair, and that maybe thanks to these young women deciding to raise this issue, the term ‘Neat and Tidy’ will expand itself, so that it allows room for a different sort of neat and tidy.
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